Fontecave, M.

Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 2015, 25, 36-47, 10.1016/j.cbpa.2014.12.018

There is an urgent need for cheap, abundant and efficient catalysts as an alternative to platinum for hydrogen production and oxidation in (photo)electrolyzers and fuel cells. Hydrogenases are attractive solutions. These enzymes use exclusively nickel and iron in their active sites and function with high catalytic rates at the thermodynamic equilibrium. As an alternative, a number of biomimetic and bioinspired catalysts for H2 production and/or uptake, based on Ni, Fe and Co, have been developed and shown to display encouraging performances. In this review we discuss specifically recent approaches aiming at incorporating these compounds within oligomeric and polymeric hosts. The latter are most often biological compounds (peptides, proteins, polysaccharides, etc.) but we also discuss non-biological scaffolds (synthetic polymers, Metal–organic-Frameworks, etc.) which can provide the appropriate environment to tune the activity and stability of the synthetic catalysts. These supramolecular catalytic systems thus define a class of original compounds so-called artificial hydrogenases.

Fontecave, M.

Acc. Chem. Res. 2015, 48, 2380-2387, 10.1021/acs.accounts.5b00157

Water splitting into oxygen and hydrogen is one of the most attractive strategies for storing solar energy and electricity. Because the processes at work are multielectronic, there is a crucial need for efficient and stable catalysts, which in addition have to be cheap for future industrial developments (electrolyzers, photoelectrochemicals, and fuel cells). Specifically for the water/hydrogen interconversion, Nature is an exquisite source of inspiration since this chemistry contributes to the bioenergetic metabolism of a number of living organisms via the activity of fascinating metalloenzymes, the hydrogenases. In this Account, we first briefly describe the structure of the unique dinuclear organometallic active sites of the two classes of hydrogenases as well as the complex protein machineries involved in their biosynthesis, their so-called maturation processes. This knowledge allows for the development of a fruitful bioinspired chemistry approach, which has already led to a number of interesting and original catalysts mimicking the natural active sites. More specifically, we describe our own attempts to prepare artificial hydrogenases. This can be achieved via the standard bioinspired approach using the combination of a synthetic bioinspired catalyst and a polypeptide scaffold. Such hybrid complexes provide the opportunity to optimize the system by manipulating both the catalyst through chemical synthesis and the protein component through mutagenesis. We also raise the possibility to reach such artificial systems via an original strategy based on mimicking the enzyme maturation pathways. This is illustrated in this Account by two examples developed in our laboratory. First, we show how the preparation of a lysozyme–{MnI(CO)3} hybrid and its clean reaction with a nickel complex led us to generate a new class of binuclear Ni-Mn H2-evolving catalysts mimicking the active site of [NiFe]-hydrogenases. Then we describe how we were able to rationally design and prepare a hybrid system, displaying remarkable structural similarities to an [FeFe]-hydrogenase, and we show here for the first time that it is catalytically active for proton reduction. This system is based on the combination of HydF, a protein involved in the maturation of [FeFe]-hydrogenase (HydA), and a close mimic of the active site of this class of enzymes. Moreover, the synthetic [Fe2(adt)(CO)4(CN)2]2– (adt2–= aza-propanedithiol) mimic, alone or within a HydF hybrid system, was shown to be able to maturate and activate a form of HydA itself lacking its diiron active site. We discuss the exciting perspectives this “synthetic maturation” opens regarding the “invention” of novel hydrogenases by the chemists.